Method of removing metallic plating from a carrier band



Oct., 18, 1938. F R, COUGHLIN 5 -1- AL v 2,133,685

METHOD OF' REMOVING METALLIC PLATING FROM A CARRIER BAND Filed March ll,1955 w IW www O G E Q INVENTOR O 2 FRANK couGHLlN Patented Oct. 18, 1938UNITED STATES METHOD F REMOVING METALLIC PLATIN G FROM A CARRIER BANDFrank R. Coughlin, Flushing, and Paul V. Coughlin, Crestwood, N. Y.

Application March 11, 1935, Serial No. 10,536

2 Claims.

This invention relates to the production of metallic leaf or lm, and hasmore particular reference to the transfer of the plated metallic film ofa carrier band to a supporting strip, which i slmplifies handling of thefilm in subsequent use; and to the protection of the metallic plating orfilm, more particularly while the transfer from the carrier band to thesupporting strip is being effected.

l Comprehensively stated, one `aspect of the invention among othersresides in the application of a protective coating to a plated carrierband, the separation of the carrier band from the protected plating orfilm, and the transfer of the i plating or lrn so protected to one faceof a suitable supporting strip, so that the metallic lm may beconveniently packed and shipped without damage for subsequent commercialutilization.

More specifically stated, the invention comi prises the steps ofapplying to the more generally very thin plated side of a metal band, acoating comprising a cellulose compound or a derivative thereof,floating the carrier band with its pro tective coating along the surfaceof a bath g capable of dissolving or otherwise removing the carrier bandso as to free the protected coating from the latter, and thentransferring the protected plating or film to one face of a movingcontinuous supporting strip, and rolling the supporting strip with itsprotectiveflm into roll form.

Other characteristics and objects of the invention will be apparent asthe description proceeds.

While one embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, it is to be understood that this embodiment merely serves as anillustration of the underlying principles of the invention so that theymay be readily comprehended by those skilled in the art and is notintended as limiting the invention to the specic form disclosed therein.

In said drawing:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic View of the apparatus for .applying theprotective coating to the plated face of a carrier band.

' Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view showing the apparatus for removing thecarrier band from the protected coating and transferring it to asupporting strip.

Fig. 3 is a section of Fig. 2 on the line 3 3.

Fig. 4 is a section of Fig. 2 on the line 4 4, and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the plated carrier band` withits protective coating after having been treated in the apparatus shownin Fig. 1.

Continuing by way of a more detailed description, a carrier band A,plated in the manner described in `co-pending application of Paul 5Coughlin, Serial No. 7330, has a protective coating or sizing A appliedto its plated face A' for the purpose to be fully described hereinafter.This protective coating is applied as is more particularly shown in Fig.1 by passing the plated 10 carrier band conveniently stored on a roll B,after plating over a rotating coating roller B', the circumferentialsurface of which is wet by passing through a bath C, comprising ethylcellulose or other cellulose compound dissolved in alcohol, 15 alcoholchloroform, or other suitable solvent. 'I'he solution is of quick dryingtype so that the coating adhering to the surface of the roll B', whenbrought into contact with the plated face of the carrier band, quicklyforms a protective coating for the plating of the carrier band, whichmore generally is very thin, for instance in the form of leaf or nlm,particularly when the plating is gold.

The plated carrier strip A, coated in the manner above described and asshown more particularly in Fig. 1, may be stored on a reel B", (shown inFig. 2, but not in Fig. l) afterleaving the roll B. This roll may thenbe transferred from the coating device to the position shown in Fig. 2,although instead of storing the coated plated carrier band on reel B",the band, after coating, could be fed directly to the apparatus shown inFig. 2.

The end of the coated carrier strip A, stored on roll B, or fed directlyfrom the coating apparatus shown in Mg. l, is passed between the rollersD and D for the purpose of bending or iianging the edges of the platedcarrier band with its protective coating, as will be readily 4@understood.

The band A, with its plating A' and protective coating A'Qshaped by ,therollers D and D' is fed to the surface of a bath E, containing an agentsuch as dilute nitric acid, the protective coating, as well as the bentedges affording sumcient buoyancy so that the plating will remain on thesurface of the acid after the carrier band has been removed.

The plated coating, after having been oated on the surface of the bath Elong enough to remove or dissolve the carrier band, is passed over rollsF and F', carrying an endless web F", and then floated along the topsurface ofV a water bath G, and is then applied to a moving continuousstrip H of paper, for instance, glassine paper, or other suitablesupporting material.

The strip H is initially stored on a roller J and passes under thetransfer roller K, in contact with the' water in bath G, and then overthe guide roller L. The roller K is arranged to co-operate with theguide K' so that the anging bevels K" bend the edges of the paper sothat only one side of the paper is wet.

The strip H, with its attached coated film after -passing over theroller L, whichV ilattens the bent edges is passed under the roller M,and in contact with a drive roll N, and an idler roll P, to a suitablestorage reel Q, on which the supporting strip with the metallic filmhaving a protective coating on oneI face is stored. The rolls F, N, andD are driven from a suitable source of mo tive power R by suitablebelting, or otherwise, as will be readily understood.

T'he speed with which the carrier band is to be moved along the surfaceof the bath E is dependent on the plating material of the carrier band,and the characteristics of the bath for attacking the band, the objectbeing to remove the carrier band without appreciably attacking theplating.

While the present invention relates more particularly to a plated brasscarrier band such as is disclosed in the co-pending application abovereferred to, it is also within the contemplated scope of the inventionto use a carrier band consisting of an alloy such as zinc and leadhaving a comparatively low melting point, particularly a melting pointbelow C. I1 a plated alloy having the characteristic above referred tois to be treated, a bath maintained at a high enough temperature to meltthe carrier band might be used in place of the bath E, or the bath mightbe eliminated entirely and a heated chamber substituted.

We claim:

1. The method of transferring a metallic plating from a carrier band toa supporting strip, comprising the step of applying a buoyant protectivecoating to the plated side of the carrier band, then floating thecarrier band with the buoyant coating on a bath of sufficient heat tomelt the band, dissolving the carrier band and then spreading on amoving supporting strip the coated plating remaining after vthe carrierband is dissolved, said band consisting of an alloy having a meltingpoint below one hundred degrees centigrade.

2. The steps in the method of transferring a metallic plating from acarrier to a supporting strip, comprising applying a cellulose coatingto a band consisting of a carrier strip coated with precious metal,floating the carrier band with its cellulose coating along the surfaceof a bath to dissolve the carrier band and leave the precious metal lmadhering to the cellulose coating, simultaneously anging a supportingstrip and wetting one face thereof and continuously moving thesupporting strip, and attaching one end of the protected lm of preciousmetal to the continuously moving supporting strip so that the protectedfilm is continually spread along the supporting strip.

FRANK R. COUGHLIN.

PAUL V. COUGHLIN.

